Shell fracking methane leak in PA. Residents evacuated.

[limpyhobbler]

DEP Investigating Potential Shell Methane Migration

As Gov­er­nor Cor­bett pushes to give Royal Dutch Shell a $1.65 bil­lion tax credit, the Depart­ment of Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion is inves­ti­gat­ing a poten­tial methane migra­tion prob­lem in Union Town­ship, Tioga County, involv­ing the company’s nat­ural gas drilling arm.

A Shell spokes­woman says the company’s tests show “a very low haz­ard risk to peo­ple, veg­e­ta­tion, and fish in the imme­di­ate area,” but Shell has nev­er­the­less asked the hand­ful of peo­ple who live within a one-mile radius of the drilling site to tem­porar­ily evac­u­ate their homes.

Shell has also sent a well con­trol spe­cial­ist team to the site.

DEP spokesman Daniel Spadoni con­firmed the probe in an email to StateIm­pact Penn­syl­va­nia. “DEP was noti­fied of the prob­lem by Shell on June 17,” he writes. “Shell is fully coop­er­at­ing with the response and investigation.”
...

more: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/06/21/dep-investigating-potential-methane-migration-by-shell/

[BlueToTheBone]

1. “a very low hazard risk to people, vegeta­tion, and fish in the immediate area,”?

Run for your lives!

You can be sure that your health is in danger if they are denying it.

[Smilo]

17. Just talked with my bruv

he was saying how methane has an extremely wide explosion range and methane can be dissolved/trapped in water - hence the poor little fish.

Hopefully, no one will be hurt because this is a very dire situation.

[elehhhhna]

22. didn't an methane "burp" from a lake kill

hundreds in Cameroon about ten years ago?

Yeah - 1800...



methane killed 1800 villagers in 1986 - YouTube

20, 2010 - 38 sec - Uploaded by HistoryTours
Wum is in a remote part of Cameroon, so it took two days for a medical team to arrive in the area ... Methane ...

[MADem]

2. Nothing to see here, move along now!

I hate that fracking--they just don't know how to do it without messing up the environment.

How long before PA has a beaut of an earthquake?

[AlinPA]

10. I have heard estimates of 80,000 future fracking sites in PA. This place will be a wasteland.

[FogerRox]

21. Currently 9k fracking wells in operation in PA

80k is a bit over the top, no other state has as many fracking wells as PA. But the industry has no plans to build that many wells so likely the number is hyperbole.

PA might have 400 lease apps for next year.

[elehhhhna]

23. they're fracking dry gas which is worth jackshit rightnow --

energy co.'s are pulling back or out in record numbers. It'll slow down in PA, fast. It's not worth the expense of extracting it...for now.

[FogerRox]

24. Thats the cost off upping nat gas production to replace

coal generated electricity.

The risk that the Nat gas bizz would over extend.......

[raouldukelives]

3. Those poor investors! I sure hope they can still profit from it. nt

[glinda]

4. Oh just fine them as if money really amends the problem.....

fining is the equivalent of giving permission and getting paid.

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. They can use their billion dollar tax credit to pay the fine. Money for nothing......

[glinda]

13. yup

[valerief]

6. I'm sure the MSM will be all over this.

[limpyhobbler]

16. Thank goodness for NPR, at least in this case.

I should probably send them a few bucks this year.

[Woody Woodpecker]

7. Place Governor Corbett under arrest

for endangering the lives of the Pennsylvania citizen by allowing fracking.

[Frack Glop]

8. The sky is pink over Tioga and Bradford County

The sky is pink over Tioga and Bradford County
http://fracktoids.blogspot.com/2012/06/sky-is-pink-in-tioga-and-bradford.html


For other articles that connect the dots of the marcellus shale players:

You Can’t Tell the Players Without a Scorecard!
Connecting the Dots: The Marcellus Natural Gas Play Players – Part 1
By Dory Hippauf
http://commonsense2.com/2011/12/naturalgasdrilling/connecting-the-dots-the-marcellus-natural-gas-play-players-part-1/

Chesapeake Energy – Peeking Behind the Curtain
Connecting the Dots: The Marcellus Natural Gas Play Players – Part 2
By Dory Hippauf
http://commonsense2.com/2012/01/national-politics/connecting-the-dots-the-marcellus-natural-gas-play-players-part-2/

Energy-in-Depth (EID): The “GAS”roots
Connecting the Dots: The Marcellus Natural Gas Play Players – Part 3
By Dory Hippauf
http://commonsense2.com/2012/02/naturalgasdrilling/connecting-the-dots-the-marcellus-natural-gas-play-players-part-3/

Cabot, Krancer and Dimock
Connecting the Dots: The Marcellus Natural Gas Play Players – Part 4
By Dory Hippauf
http://commonsense2.com/2012/03/naturalgasdrilling/connecting-the-dots-part-4/

Pieces of Silver - Act 13
Connecting the Dots: The Marcellus Natural Gas Play Players – Part 5
By Dory Hippauf
http://commonsense2.com/2012/04/naturalgasdrilling/connecting-the-dots-marcellus-shale-play-players-part-5/

Aubrey McClendon: Chesapeake Energy’s Little Problem
By Dory Hippauf
Connecting the Dots: The Marcellus Natural Gas Play Players–Part 6
http://commonsense2.com/2012/05/naturalgasdrilling/aubrey-mcclendon-chesapeake-energy%E2%80%99s-little-problem/

Marcellus Shale Coalition: In the Lobby
By Dory Hippauf
Connecting the Dots: The Marcellus Natural Gas Play Players – Part 7
http://commonsense2.com/2012/06/naturalgasdrilling/marcellus-shale-coalition-in-the-lobby/

for larger views of diagrams and more info related to Marcellus Shale Coalition see:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9tP1cRHZ8J_MG96bHotOHhKRDg/edit?pli=1



Don't miss my blog FRACKorportions at http://fracktoids.blogspot.com/

[sakabatou]

9. Fracking needs to end NOW.

[limpyhobbler]

18. A lot of people in eastern Ohio agree.

But industry doesn't even want to slow down. They are just full speed ahead.

This one incident may not be huge, but similar stuff happens all the time.

I bet a lot of it goes unreported.

In any case we only hear about it when it bubbles to the surface.
As long as the contamination is in underground water, we can't see it.

[Smilo]

11. Frack the Governor's mansion

and let's see Corbett stay there while there is a methane leak.

On second thoughts he is a methane leak.

[awoke_in_2003]

12. Wind farms...

Are a blight on the landscape

[stonecutter357]

14. K&R...

but Shell has nev­er­the­less asked the hand­ful of peo­ple who live within a one-mile radius of the drilling site to tem­porar­ily evac­u­ate their homes. on what authority?

[limpyhobbler]

15. A more recent update.

(Wells­boro, Tioga County) — A geyser of methane-infused water has been reduced to waist-height, as Shell Appalachia works to con­tain mys­te­ri­ous methane migra­tion near a clus­ter of three of its nat­ural gas wells in south­east­ern Tioga County.

The geyser was shoot­ing water more than thirty feet into the air at one point, but Tioga County Emer­gency Ser­vices Coor­di­na­tor Denny Cole­grove said it was down to less than two feet by yes­ter­day evening.

Shell is flar­ing off nearby wells in order to reduce under­ground gas pres­sure. “We’re see­ing that brings down — it depres­sur­izes — the gas that could be con­tribut­ing to migra­tion in the imme­di­ate area,” said Shell spokes­woman Kelly op de Weegh.

In addi­tion to the road­side geyser — or for­mer geyser — methane has been detected bub­bling up in nearby streams, and a pri­vate water well has over­flown. A pri­vate landowner first detected a methane prob­lem on Sat­ur­day. It’s not clear yet whether the migra­tion is directly tied to Shell drilling, but the com­pany is work­ing with the Depart­ment of Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion to stop the flow of gas.
...

http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/06/22/tioga-county-methane-migration-onetime-geyser-being-brought-under-conrol/

It's not clear whether the bubbling gas from streams and wells is related to the gas drilling ???
That would be one heck of a coincidence.

For reference, "gas migration" = "oh crap we're leaking gas everywhere"

[Frack Glop]

18. It's Royal DUTCH Shell - not even a US corporation

As a candidate for governor of PA, Tom Corbett promised to work to reduce the burden of taxation. And so I guess he is keeping his word by supporting a proposal to allow the foreign-based corporate giant Royal Dutch Shell to reap the economic benefits of the Marcellus exploitation without having to pay its fair share of tax on earnings from the natural gas processing plant that it hopes to build here in PA.

On some fronts, Corbett is working to eliminate state spending. For example, the budget of PA DEP has already been cut, and the governor is pushing for further cuts. The message to the gas drilling, processing, and transport businesses is “Not only will we exempt you from paying your fair share of taxes, we’ll also stay out of your way while you do whatever is deemed necessary to get the gas.”

Royal Dutch Shell will gain about 72 million dollars over each of the next 25 years, whereas the average middle-class Pennsylvania taxpayer may end up with an annual tax reduction in the neighborhood of $50. Royal Dutch Shell already stands to receive up to 15 years of tax cuts and exemptions under a bill Corbett signed earlier this year to designate the cracker-plant site as an expanded Keystone Opportunity Zone.

Before construction of the cracker plant could even begin, the still-operating zinc smelter site needs to be cleaned up. Its owner, Horsehead, has racked up numerous federal and state environmental violations and some experts suggest cleanup costs could reach into the tens of millions. It was originally reported that taxpayers of Pennsylvania would be paying for the cleanup, although now Corbett is backing off on this. So it appears there will be no environmental remediation whatsoever, given that our governor is reluctant to impose upon the mineral extraction industry.

How is Pennsylvania going to pay for cleanup, tax credits, tax cuts, and exemptions for this one extra- special corporation, Royal Dutch Shell? Looking at Corbett’s budget proposal, he will be doing it through cuts to state-funded education initiatives and needed social services. Hasn’t the natural gas industry received enough special considerations through the passage of Act 13 and with $1.8 billion per year in subsidies from Pennsylvania tax dollars?

At a recent town meeting, representatives from one natural gas corporation were asked why they were at the meeting. The response was, “so we can educate you, get on with our job, and leave. “ Key point – get on with our job and leave. The natural gas industry, as a whole, has no vested interest in Pennsylvania communities. They do not live here; they do not raise their families here. They exploit what they are allowed to exploit, and they leave.

The objectively estimated Marcellus reserves would meet U.S. gas demand for about six years, using 2010 consumption data, according to the Energy Department. This is quite a bit less than the 17 years previously projected by gas-friendly estimates. If this new prediction is correct, in approximately 6 years the natural gas industry will pack up their carpet bags and leave. The natural gas industry will leave the financial responsibility of cleanup and generations of health costs to the people of Pennsylvania.

[blue neen]

20. Bookmarking.

K & R. Please consider posting this in the PA forum. Thanks!

[upi402]

25. now, all electrical in the area

needs to be explosion proof. like at a gas station.

methane is more than just stanky ot they wouldn't risk the PR disaster of evacuating 3.1428 square miles